USING STEM TO IMPROVE
TEEN DRIVER SAFETY
Submitted by
Brent Olyowski
Evergreen High School
Colorado
USING STEM TO IMPROVE
TEEN DRIVER SAFETY
Recommended for grades:
th
11-12
COLORADO
CONCEPTUALOVERVIEW:
ACTIVITIES:
The main idea of the project is to design, build, and perform physics experiments with
electric go-karts to increase enthusiasm and raise achievement within science and to
improve teen driver safety.
STUDENTGOALS:
To teach students engineering and physics concepts by creating and building an
electric go-kart which will then be used for physics experiments and safety
experiments to promote safe teen driving.
COMMUNITYGOALS:
Students will design and construct a go-kart including brakes, a seat and
seatbelt, bumpers, and a places to put weights on the front and back.
Students will have to consider the design of the frame, materials, and
placement of each component of the go-kart. Students will have a small
budget to purchase parts that cannot be scavenged. Students will use
donated electric scooters as a base for the go-karts.
Students will build their go-karts using trial and error, problem solving, and
teamwork to perfect their design and make them a reality. The physics
concepts during the creation and construction of the go-kart include: force,
tension, circuits, batteries, voltage, weight, resistance, rotational physics,
torque, gears, friction, heat, inertia, center of gravity, collisions, energy
transformation, and pressure.
To increase enthusiasm and raise achievement within science and to improve teen
driving and decrease traffic accidents involving teen drivers in the community by
creating public service announcements based on student findings.
Submitted by/Brent Olyowski/Evergreen High School/Colorado
Next Generation Standards/HS-PS2-1, HS-PS2-2, HS-PS2-3, HS-PS3-1, HS-PS3-2
HS-PS3-3, HS-ETS1-1, HS-ETS1-2, HS-ETS1-3
USING STEM TO IMPROVE
TEEN DRIVER SAFETY
Recommended for grades:
th
11-12
COLORADO
ACTIVITIES (continued):
Once the go-karts are built, the students can conduct experiments and calculations with the go-karts ranging from: displacement, velocity, acceleration, graphing motion,
stopping distance, using technology to gather data, Newton’s 3 laws, inertia, friction, force, momentum, impulse, conservation of momentum, conservation of energy,
elastic collisions, kinetic energy, potential energy, gearing, heat, electricity, charge, circuits, resistance, Doppler effect, light (if they put lights on them), inverse square law,
and efficiency. The students will also perform teen driving safety experiments such as: Why do we wear seatbelts? How does mass affect stopping distance? What happens
during distracted driving? Students could simulate driving while impaired and the effects of speed on reaction time and its consequences.
Through building and experimenting with go-karts, the students will cover most topics in physics. The goal is to make physics interesting and related to driving so that
dangerous driving behaviors could change.
Submitted by/Brent Olyowski/Evergreen High School/Colorado
Next Generation Standards/HS-PS2-1, HS-PS2-2, HS-PS2-3, HS-PS3-1, HS-PS3-2
HS-PS3-3, HS-ETS1-1, HS-ETS1-2, HS-ETS1-3